Developer Tom Duke is asking the City of Farmington to back off on its requirement for an eight-foot wall along the eastern edge of the Grand River-Halsted Plaza, citing an engineer’s assessment that it will topple over if built onto vertically.

Duke recently approached the city council about amending his already-approved site plan to renovate The Tile Shop. Repairing and extending the existing screening wall upward to eight feet is part of the plan, but Duke said the structure’s poor condition won’t allow for it.

“You can’t argue with an engineer,” Duke said. “He said it will tip over even though it’s perfectly plumb.”

Kevin Christiansen, Farmington’s economic and community development director, said it was built as a retaining wall in the late 1950s and now portions are crumbling, separating and leaning. Complicating the issue is a major grade change between Duke’s property and the abutting Jamestown Apartments.

Demolishing and rebuilding the entire 297-foot stretch along the eastern side of the property could cost $150,000, Duke said.

“It’s not reasonably engineerable or affordable” to stick with the requirement for an eight-foot wall, he said.

Instead, Duke is proposing to remove the wall’s first 20 feet on the north end of the property and keep the next 141 feet at its existing four-to-five feet height For the remaining 136 feet, he wants to have the wall cut off at grade level on his side and add a new eight-foot wall, to be tied into what will remain on the Jamestown Apartment side. This plan will cut his bill in half, Duke said.

Any change in the site plan will need an OK first from the planning commission and then from the city council. It will also require a public hearing. Yet, Christiansen explained, presenting the alternate plan to the city council on a what-if basis and getting feedback would help Duke decide whether or not to proceed with the process.

“He didn’t want to put it in motion without city council support,” Christiansen said.

Council member Jeff Scott, an architect, said it “should have been obvious” that adding to the wall’s height wasn’t feasible. And Mayor Pro-tem Steve Schneemann said he needs to know that connecting a new wall to the older portion on the southern part of the site won’t create additional problems.